Automobile heater



April 21, 1936. W R, FOX 2,037,857

AUTOMOBILE HEATER Filed Jan. 24, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l g FME-4' 7 0 ff I 1y o 2f Z0 Q @ik l M \l WW f a U 5U? S5 mf@ Il-Imm' Lm Z8 f2 w".

. April 21, 1936.

w. R. Fox 2,037,857

AUTOMOBILE HEATER Filed Jan. 24, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 2 heater, particularly showing the arrangement of- Patented Apr. 2l,` 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE HEATER `Wilfred!!n Fox, Flint, Mich. Application January 24, 1935, Serial No. 3,330

3 claims. (01.98-40) lThis invention relates to an improved automobile heater of the type embodying a motor driven fan for setting up air currents through the heater and seeks, as one of its principal objects, to provide a heater wherein the flow of heated air currents may be interchangeably directed to preselected locations.

Another salient object of the invention in this connection is to provide a heater wherein the motor will be reversible so that the direction of flow of heated air currents may be reversed at will simply by reversing the direction of rotation of the motor fan.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heater wherein the heated air currents may be caused to ow rearwardly within the vehicle for warming the hands and upper part of .the body of the driver or other occupant of the vehicle and wherein, when so desired, the heated air currents may be caused to flow downwardly within the vehicle for warming the feet While also, when preferred, the heated air currents may be caused to flow laterally within the vehicle to alford general heating of the interior of the vehicle.

And the invention seeks, as a still further object, to provide a heater which will .be compact, which .may be readily installed and which, by providing control over the direction of flow of the heated air currents will aiord a maximum of comfort'. Other and incidental objects of the-invention not specifically mentioned in the foregoing will appear during the course of the following description and in the drawings, forming part of my application.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved the doors of the heater casing.

` Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View taken medially through the heater, this view particularly' showing the fan employed` Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional View on the line 3--3 of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 4-4f of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view showing a slight variation of the invention.

In carrying the invention into effect I employ a more or less rectangular casing I 0 which may be of sheet metal or other approved material and .preferably, the front wall II of the casing is removable to afford easy access to the interior of the casing. As brought out in Figure 2, the top wall of the casing is curved to gradually merge with the back wall while, as shown in Figure 3,

vthe right side wall of the casing, viewing the heater from the front, is likewise curved to gradually merge into the back wall, these walls being curved to reduce the formation of air pockets 5 within the casing and accelerate the flow of air currents therethrough.

Formed in the bottom wall of the casing near the rear thereof is an opening I2 preferably covered by a grill I3 and controlling the flow of air 10 through said opening is a. door I 4 hinged to the bottom wall and movable to close said opening. Formed in the front wall II of the casing are vertically spaced horizontalA openings I5 and hinged to said walll are doors I 6 for controlling the l5 flow of air through the openings I 5 and movable to close said openings. The left side wall of the casing, viewing the heater from the front there- 25 Removably mounted within the Acasing I0 at the front thereof is a heat exchange unit embodying a radiator 20 and extending rearwardly from the top and bottom tanks of the radiator, as particularly seen in Figure 2, are parallel nlp- 30 ples 2| which project through the back wall of the casing I0 and may be appropriately secured thereto for sustaining the unit within the casing. Centrally, the radiator core is provided with a cylindrical opening therethrough and tting said 35 opening is a cylindrical shield 22 affording an air passage 23 through the radiator.

In the present instance, I have shown my improved heater mounted against the usual dash 24 of .a motor vehicle. As will be observed, the nip- 40 ples 2I project through the dash and are threaded to accommodate nuts 25 which serve to rigidly secure the heater in position atthe inner side of the dash. Detachably secured to the forward ends of the nipples 2| are hose 26 suitably con- 45 nected into the cooling system of the motor vehicle engine so that the heated liquid in the motor vehicle radiator will enter through the uppermost hose to then ow through the radiator 20 Aand discharge through the lowermost hose, the circu- 50 lation ofthe liquid through theradiator 2U being vcontinuous as long as the engine of the motor vehicle is in operation. As the exact manner in which the hose 26 are connected in the cooling system of the motor vehicle forms no part of the present invention, these details have not been shown.

Associated with the radiator 20 is an electric fan embodying a motor 21 and connected to the inner end of the armature shaft of the motor are fan blades 28. As brought out in Figure 4, the motor 21 is mounted axially of the passage 23 afforded by the shield 22 and removably supporting the motor in position is a spider 29, provision being made, as will be observed, whereby the spider may be tightly clamped about the motor or released to permit removal thereof.

Attention is now particularly directed to the fact that the motor 21 is reversible and any conventional reversible motor may be employed, the circuit connections of the motor, for such reason, not being shown. For a like reason, the means employed, as a suitable switch, for stopping and starting the motor as well as the means employed for eiiecting thereversal of the motor have not been shown as said means form no part oi the invention. These means will be, however, preferably located convenient to the driver so that, at will, the' motor may be started and the fan blades caused to turn either clockwise or'counterclockwise selectively while, when it is not desired to use the heater, the motor may be stopped. Y

The dash 24 of the motor vehicle is shown as being covered at its inner side with the usual iacing 30 for excluding heat as well as shutting out the sound of the vehicle motor. This facing is often in the nature of a iibrous padding and in order to obviate the overheating of the facing at the point where the casing I0 rests thereagainst I preferably provide a reproof shield 3| of asbestos or the like. As particularly brought out in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings, the shield is positioned opposite the fan blades 28 and may be secured to the back wall of the casing I0 in any suitable manner so that the blast of hot air currents set up by the fan, when rotating in a counter-clockwise direction, will impinge the shield.

Assuming now that the motor 21 is set into operation and the fan blades 28 are caused to turn in a clockwise direction, it will be seen that when the doors I4 and I6 are open and the door I9 closed, cold air will be drawn inwardly through the opening I2 of the casing I0 and forced through the radiator 20 to be heated thereby when the air will be expelled as heated air currents through the opening I5 at the front of the casing. The heated air currents will thus be discharged rearwardly within the vehicle for heating the hands and body of the driver or other occupant of the vehicle and preferably, the doors I6 are mounted to work tight on their hinge pins so that the doors may be adjustably opened for regulating the elevation of the heated air currents issuing from the heater. If so desired, the door I9 may, when the heater is operated as just described, also be opened so that cold air will be drawn in through the opening I1 of the casing I0 as well as through the opening I2 or, if preferred, the door I4 may be closed, when all of the air will be drawn in through the opening I1.

As is well known, currents of heated air blown rearwardly within a vehicle as just described quite often become annoying and cause discomfort. Under such conditions, the motor 21 is reversed so that the fan blades 28 are caused to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. Cold air will then be drawn in through the openings I5 of the casing I0 to flow through the radiator 20 and, when the door I4 is opened and the door I9 closed, discharged as heated air currents downwardly within the vehicle. Thus, afterthe hands and body of the driver or other occupant of the vehicle have been warmed, the downwardly discharging heated 5 air currents will serve to warm the feet. Should however, the downwardly discharging heated air currents become annoying or cause discomfort, the door I4 may be closed and the door I9 opened when, as will be perceived, heated air currents 10 will be discharged laterally through the opening I1 of the casing II'I. The legs of the driver may thus be warmed while also a general heating of the interior of the vehicle may beaccomplished.

I thus provide a heater wherein each of the 15 openings I2, I5 and I1 in the heater casing constitutes a combined inlet and outlet for the ingress of cold air or egress of heated air. Furthermore, the direction of iiow of the air currents may be manually selected through the instrumentality of 2() the reversible motor while also, the location of discharge of the heated air currents may be manually selected through the instrumentality of the doors of the casing. In this connection it is to be observed that the shield 22 will prevent over- 25 heating oil, the motor 21 by the radiator 20 while currents of cold air will be caused to flow through the passage 23 around the motor for cooling the motor regardless of whether the motor is operated in one direction or the other. The heater 30 shown is intended to be mounted at the right of the driver and for such reason, the opening I1 and door I9 are provided at the left side of the casing I0. In any instance where the steering gear of a motor vehicle is on the right, as in vehicles 35 of foreign make, the opening I1 and door I9 will be provided at the right side of the casing.

It is to be understood that the invention is not coniined to a heater wherein the heat exchange unit is in the form of a radiator as specifically 40 shown in the drawings as the invention is equally applicable wherein the exchange unit is heated by steam or is heated by the exhaust gases from the motor vehicle engine. I do not, therefore, wish to be limited in this respect. Furthermore, the 45 location of discharge of the heated air currents from the heater casing may be selectively controlled without the use of doors and in Figure 5 of the drawings I have shown a variation of the invention' in this respect. Secured to the back 50 wall of the casing are horizontally aligned brackets 32 and pivoted between said brackets is a fan embodying a motor 33 and fan blades 34, the motor 33 being reversible like the motor 21. The motor 33 is thus mounted to swing about a horl- 55 zontal axis and, as will be observed, the door I4 is eliminated as is also the door I9. Furthermore, the center opening in the radiator core to accommodate the motor is also eliminated but otherwise, this variation of the invention is substan- 60 tially identical with the preferred construction.

As will be perceived, when the motor 33 is in the position shown in full lines and the fan blades 34 are turned in a clockwise direction, cold air will be drawn in at the bottom and side of the casing 65 to now through the radiator and discharged as heated air currents rearwardly at the front of the casing. Upon the reversal of the motor 33 so that the fan blades 34 are turned in a counter-clockwise direction, cold air will be drawn in at the front of thecasing and discharged as heated air currents at the bottom and side of the casing. Assuming, however, that the motor is swung downwardly to the position shown by dotted lines, air currents will, when the motor is turned in a clockwise direction be drawn in at the front of the -casing and discharged downwardly as heated air currents at the bottom of the casing while, when the fan blades 34 are turned in a counter-clockwise direction, cold air will be drawn in at the bottom of the casing and discharged as heated air currents at the front of the casing. The location of the discharge of the-heated air currents may thus be selected by swinging the fan and any approved means may be provided for adjustably rocking the fan and securing said fan in adjusted position.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A motor vehicle heater including a casing having front, side and bottom walls, a heat exchange unit mounted Within the casing, a fan for setting up currents of air contacting said unit for heating said currents and reversible for reversing the direction of flow lof said currents, said Walls being formed with openings each providing a combined inlet and outlet for the passage of air currents, and doors adapted to close said openings and operable to control the discharge of heated air currents therethrough selectively.

2. In a motor vehicle heater, the combination of a heat exchange unit, means for setting up currents of air in contact with said unit for heating said currents and operable for changing the direction of fiow of the air currents, and means for causing said currents to be discharged at different locations selectively when the currents are owing inone direction and operable to cause the intake of currents at said locations selectively when the currents are flowing in another direction.

3. In a motor vehicle heater, the combination of a heat exchange unit, means for setting up currents of air in contact with said unit for heating said currents and operable for changing the direction of flow of the air currents, and doors for causing said currents to be discharged at different locations selectively when the currents are flowing in one direction and operable to cause the intake of currents at said locations selectively when the currents are flowing in another direction.

WILFRED R. FOX. 

